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This study examined the effects of elevating blood lactate concentration by arm exercise on subsequent performance during repeated 30 s sprints with the legs. Eight malestudents performed two 30 s cycle ergometer sprints separated by 6 min of recovery, on two occasions. On one occasion the subjects performed only the two 30 s cycle ergometer sprints ('legs')> while on the other occasion 5 min of heavy arm cranking preceded the two sprints ('arms and legs'). Blood lactate concentration was determined from capillary samples at rest, after a standardized warm‐up and 3 and 5 min following each exercise bout. In the ‘legs’ condition, the peak power output (PPO) and mean power output (MPO) in the second sprint were 92% (P < 0.05) and 85% (P < 0.01) of the values attained during the first sprint, respectively. Prior arm exercise, which increased blood lactate to 11.0 ± 0.6 mM, had no effect on PPO and MPO …